Camp seeks permission for retreat center

WAYNESBORO, Pa. — Capital Camps of Rouzerville, Pa., has applied for conditional use permission from the Washington Township (Pa.) Supervisors to build a retreat center on its property.

The new facility would have an open conference room and rooms in which people could stay, Township Planner Clint Rock said.

“I just got the land development plan today,” Rock said Wednesday.

That plan did not appear to list the size of structure, he said.

Entering the camp from the driveway off Pa. 16, a motorist would pass the existing building visible from Pa. 16 to reach the area where the retreat center would be built, he said.

The land is zoned forest conservation, in which only single-family houses and municipally-owned recreation facilities may be developed. Rock said Capital Camps would need to obtain a conditional-use permit to build its planned structure.

“This is really an expansion of their outdoor recreation facilities,” he said.

A hearing before the Washington Township Planning Commission has been scheduled for July 11. A hearing before the Washington Township Supervisors was scheduled for July 18.

Capital Camps bills itself as an overnight camping facility for Jewish children, according to its website.